Sat, Dec 10, 2011

Once upon a time, women were considered the "fairer sex," the "better half." Stewardesses were talented and beautiful. Wives were softer and gentler. Men fought for their honor. Feminism crushed all of that.

Consequently, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif, chair of the oversight committee already investigating Fast and Furious has done some fast and furious of his own. Issa has opened a probe into Holder's money-laundering program.

Last Thursday, in an address before the Association for Public Law's annual conference at the Dead Sea, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch launched an unhinged attack on the Knesset and the government.

This week’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to let stand a lower court ruling permitting the
city of New York to block churches from meeting for worship services in empty public schools
on weekends is profoundly troubling.

Every infrastructure asset that is old and less than perfect is apparently a disgrace to the engineers. But economists would point out that to maximize our standard of living we generally want to wear out fixed assets pretty thoroughly before we buy new stuff.

This writer’s standard stump speech, on the conservative lecture circuit, used to begin “I love Barack Obama.” (Dramatic pause. Confusion mounts.) “Not since the days of the Soviet Union, which I enjoyed a minor but not quite trivial role in helping to bring down, have I had an adversary worthy of my powers.”

Most energy investments you find on the New York Stock Exchange are actually pretty complex. They are companies that own land, wells, derricks and trucks. They have employees. They have to deal with spills, lawsuits and cleanups. That's a lot to handle and still pump out a profit.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m an expert on either the Italian or Greek economy, or that this chart proves anything. It does, however, suggest to me that the problems in Greece and Italy are unlikely due to some sort of Keynesian liquidity trap where people just aren’t spending.

This week in Osawatomie, Kansas the President likened himself to Teddy Roosevelt. Whatever similarities there might be, we doubt Teddy “Walk-softly-but-carry-a-big-stick” Roosevelt would have been overly concerned about displeasing the mullahs in Tehran.

They sleep side by side on the cement floor, as many as 59 in one room. What they own individually could barely fill a shoebox. Yet they are the richest children I have ever met, and their smiles light up the room. Our American kids with their iPhones in hand, wearing the latest designer jeans, and eager to get their first car when it’s time to drive, are woefully impoverished in comparison.

In a repeat of Copenhagen, on the eve of the Durban climate change gabfest, someone released another horde of emails from alarmist climate researchers, including Dr. Michael Mann, whose infamous “hockey stick” was headlined in the 2001 IPCC report to justify the Kyoto agreement and demands that nations slash fossil fuel use and economic growth.

In 2007, then-Sen. Barack Obama insisted that the coming presidential primary and general election campaigns "shouldn't be about making each other look bad, they should be about figuring out how we can all do some good for this precious country of ours. That's our mission."

President Obama's much-ballyhooed speech in Osawatomie, Kan., was his best effort to put a happy face on class warfare. Though some were elated, fantasizing that he might be getting his messianic mojo back, even his reliable cheerleaders recognize there's no substance beneath the hot air rising.

Can the rest of us get the power to impeach too just like Congress has? Maybe a kind of citizen’s impeachment? Some of us hicks out here in the countryside, clinging to our guns and our religion, are starting to get the idea that mistakes aren’t just being made by the administration, but rather that mistakes are being manufactured by them- and then ignored by Congress.

After a two-hour meeting in Cairo, Khaled Mashaal, unelected leader of Hamas, and Mahmoud Abbas, unelected leader of the Palestinian Authority, were all smiles. "We want to assure our people and the Arab and Islamic world that we have turned a major new and real page in partnership on everything to do with the Palestinian nation," Mashaal announced. "There are no more differences between us now," agreed Abbas.

It was good to see President Obama link his Osawatomie Speech to Kansas history. Some commentators said Mr. Obama was “channeling Roosevelts.” Especially, Theodore. It delighted some that Mr. Obama donned the mantle of the Republican Roosevelt.

Seventy years ago this week, Japanese Cmdr. Mitsuo Fuchida led an airborne strike force of 49 "Kate" bombers, 40 torpedo bombers, 51 "Val" dive bombers and 43 "Zeke" fighters on the first wave of an attack on Pearl Harbor and plunged America into World War II. At 9:45 that terrible Sunday morning, a second wave of 167 attack aircraft added to the devastation.

This has been a bad week in Israeli-American relations -- more accurately, Israeli-Obama White House relations. Three White House players who should know better (and probably do) dumped on the only democracy in the Middle East, boldly contradicting the president's boast to Jewish donors that he's the most Israel-supporting president in history. (Where does that leave Harry Truman?)

Last month, I noted that Democratic Sens. Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jim Webb of Virginia had written to national archivist David S. Ferriero on Nov. 7, asking him to open the records of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, which Ferriero has summarily sealed for 20 years.

We have come to appreciate the Occupiers for their fundamental misunderstanding of economics. We’ve also come to look forward to the latest arrest statistics or video of delusional protesters weeping for their Lost Tent City.

AutoGuide.com is reporting that General Motors and NHSTA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, knew of the battery fire problem with the Volt at least five months before disclosing the problem to the public or even alerting their dealers.

While the covert intelligence war has been under way for many years, the tempo of events that can readily be identified as part of it has been increasing over the past few months. It is important to note that many of these events are the result of hidden processes begun months or even years previously, so while visible events may indeed be increasing, the efforts responsible for many of them began to increase much earlier.

Less than one month until the 2012 Iowa Caucuses, Mitt Romney finds himself again in the uncomfortable position of looking over his shoulder at the candidate with momentum. While in 2008, that candidate was Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.), now it is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.).This time, though, Team Romney should be scared.

The burden of proof at this point isn’t on the industry, the regulators or traders to find the money MF stole. CFTC statements, other official statements clearly come out of the same “What to Say in Case of a Scandal” book.

Two things are now likely in the two-man race for the Republican presidential nomination: This will be a marathon, not a sprint, that will run through the GOP's primaries; and it may well be decided at the party's 2012 convention.

"The president has said he has full confidence in this attorney general. I have no confidence in a president who has full confidence in an attorney general who has in fact not terminated or dealt with the individuals, including key lieutenants, who from the very beginning had some knowledge and long before Brian Terry was gun downed, knew enough to stop this program." Rep. Darrell Issa

Eric Alterman, Senior Fellow and “distinguished professor of English” at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, asks in his most recent article, “Why Do the Mainstream Media Like the Tea Party More than Occupy Wall Street?”

If only we had an untapped source of wealth, a nest egg we could crack and use to grow the economy, create jobs, raise Americans’ standard of living while providing the resources needed to defend the nation from its enemies. Oh wait: We do.

What if our rights didn't come from God or from our humanity, but from the government? What if the government really thinks we're not unique individuals with immortal souls, but just public property? What if we were only entitled to our natural rights if it pleased the government? What if our rights could be stripped away whenever the government considers us to be its enemy?

An older, heavier man named Al Dvorin used to wait until Elvis Presley was safely on his way back to the tin foil enhanced hotel suite before stepping from backstage to the mic and calming the maniacal crowds with the legendary phrase: “Elvis has left the building.”

Herman Cain is out. He "suspended" his campaign for the Republican nomination for president this week after a fifth woman made allegations against him. This time, an Atlanta woman claims she had a 13-year-long affair with the former CEO. As with the four other women who made allegations of sexual harassment -- two still unidentified -- Cain denies ever having done "anything inappropriate."

In 2008, the Democrats were blessed with two candidates the party's rank-and-file admired almost as much as the press corps did. Ultimately Barack Obama, the hope-and-change guy, was more popular than Hillary Clinton if for no other reason than that the former first lady came with so much baggage -- mostly in the form of her husband, but also some scandals of her own -- while Obama was a fresh start.

Now that the government is firmly in the business of business, expect the graft to multiply. Our government subsidizes not just government guaranteed loans, as seen in the green graft Solyndra scheme, but government guaranteed profits to prominent campaign contributors. For Congress, things are going great.

In a season in which there is very little "peace on Earth" and even less "good will towards men," it is a particularly tough time for Jews, who may be finding it more and more difficult to tell who their real friends are.

Last month, I wrote a column providing a midterm life update based on a question by David Brooks. This week, I'm writing a letter to my 16-year-old self. The letter is inspired by the book, "Dear Me: A Letter to My Sixteen-Year-Old Self," edited by Joseph Galliano (Atria Books, 2011).

The GOP race for president is coming to a head very quickly. Yes, Newt Gingrich had a terrible launch. But that was in political time eons ago. Now, Gingrich is the last man standing. And if he keeps his mouth shut, he will be the GOP nominee.

Do my eyes deceive me? It seems that the Republicans are in danger of losing the debate on cutting taxes. Some 30 years after President Ronald Reagan proved that tax cuts encourage economic growth -- which enriches us all -- glum figures like President Barack Obama are roaming the land talking about the apolaustic lives of the very rich and the need to take their loot so we can all live better.

Imagine a place where jobs are plentiful, and the housing market is thriving. A place where even low-playing service jobs come with signing bonuses and other benefits. Sound too good to be true? No. It’s real, and it’s right here in the U.S.

With the recent publication of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) alarming report concerning the development of Iran’s nuclear program, the United States foreign policy establishment and our erstwhile allies in the “international community” are belatedly recognizing what Israel has long known: that Iran is precipitously close to acquiring a nuclear weapon, and that drastic action must be taken now to stop it.

The metal I'm thinking of is much more practical. It's a key ingredient in everything from pharmaceuticals to rocket fuel. It's a lubricant, a propellant and a nuclear-reactor coolant. It's also crucial for fireworks, airplanes, glass cookware and even medicine cabinets.

Today’s bombings in Afghanistan targeting Shiites have been condemned by the Taliban. Meanwhile, a Pakistani militant group has claimed them. These attacks pose a challenge to the Taliban and undermine their claim of control.

Over the past several years, there has been one truism in markets that everyone has leaned on. How many times have you heard some analyst say, “We are all connected.”. “Our market is down because the fill in the blank market is down and this whole globalization of capital is dragging us with it.” I bet a lot.

Wed, Dec 07, 2011

How can you be an elected official sued by an Attorney General for diverting (stealing) $300,000 in taxpayer money, have the FBI and IRS conduct an eight hour raid of your house, seize property and you still remain in office? Only in DC government.

Before you newly active Republicans commit to Newt Gingrich as your presidential nominee on the basis of the recent debates, here's a bit of Newt history you ought to know. I promise you, it's going to come up if he's the candidate.

The Obama administration has offered in two high level addresses the crystallization of all that is wrong in its course. Yesterday, President Barack Obama went to Osawatomie , Kansas. He chose that location because of his own Kansas roots and because former President Theodore Roosevelt gave a famous speech there in 1910.

I want to quickly get to the heart of the matter. Cain’s suspension hurt me emotionally in a few ways. One of the ways it affected me was the way the media treated a black conservative. I myself am a black conservative and I can say that you are always a suspect. You are target practice for the left to throw their liberals darts at.

Tom Brokaw has written a book about the Greatest Generation, a generation that grew up with fathers in the home who saw it as their duty to instill in their sons a work ethic. The Greatest Generation went on to win World War II. Newt Gingrich is right when he warns that the newest generation does not understand or appreciate the value of good, hard work.

For many moms, Black Friday kicked off not only the Christmas shopping season, but the season of overload: too much to do and too little merriment. Family calendars swell with social obligations—work Christmas parties, neighborhood cookie swaps, school Christmas plays (with socials afterwards), and generic “holiday” events hosted by nearly every group on your email list.

I wrote an article on Deer Season a half century ago, focusing on my grandmother’s town in the mountains of Emporium, Pennsylvania. Each year, my grandmother and other households opened their doors and kitchens and beds to perfect strangers who came to town to shoot a deer—and there were no problems.

IN THE FIRST ROUND of Egypt's parliamentary elections, the hardline Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won 36.6 percent of the vote -- a plurality -- and the even harder-line Salafist party, Al-Nour, won 24.4 percent. The Egyptian Bloc -- a coalition of liberal, social-democratic, and secular parties -- drew only 13.4 percent.

Last month, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid made the case on the Senate floor that government regulations don’t harm the economy and job creation. I’m not sure what job creators the Majority Leader is talking to, but almost every small business owner I have talked with tells me that over-regulation is harming their business and preventing them from hiring.

This week I was privileged to participate in a ride along with the Arizona Pinal County Sheriff’s Office and got a first hand look at what the deputies working there are dealing with on a daily basis. Although we didn’t get into any major cartel chases during my time with them, the education I received about a number of border issues was eye opening.

Wrapping himself in the mantle of Theodore Roosevelt's "National Greatness" agenda, President Obama urged the nation to stand strong and unite behind ... his umpteenth regulatory czar. Nothing symbolizes American strength and vigor more than another unaccountable Washington bureaucrat.

Madison stood on the floor of the House to object, saying, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents," adding later that "charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." This vision of morality, I'm afraid, is repulsive to most Americans.

Time magazine didn't mind ruffling feathers in religious America with a cover this summer that asked "Is Hell Dead?" Never mind that America is overwhelmingly Christian. Then Time found only one letter worth plucking out to feature in large, bold type from a man in Dallas: "Hell is easy to define. It would be spending eternity with evangelicals."

The legacy of President George W. Bush and his relationship with the conservative movement is the subject of a timely new book by a young conservative who worked inside the Bush White House for the better part of the two Bush terms in office.

Chicago’s become the punchline behind the joke on the Obama administration in the same way that Monica Lewinsky became the punchline for the joke on Bill Clinton’s administration. Metaphorically, there’s a great big stain splotching up the frock Chicago’s wearing. And we don’t have to wait for the DNA test to show who the culprits are or what they are up to.

One of the nice things about human history is that no matter how much people or their leaders misjudge events and make a hash of things, within a few centuries, the debris is cleared away, and we can have another go at getting things right.

Encouraged by near universal disgust with both Republicans and Democrats, prominent activists hope to organize a credible third party alternative for the upcoming presidential campaign. The ambitious outfit “Americans Elect” has reportedly raised $30 million and secured ballot positions in ten states for its proposed bi-partisan ticket – with a presidential candidate from one major party, and vice presidential nominee from the other.

Last week in Boston, a seven-year-old boy named Mark got into a fight with a bully. The bully put his hands around the boy's throat and began to squeeze. That's when Mark fought back; he kicked his aggressor right in the family jewels. In a normal society, we'd celebrate Mark. Throw him a ticker tape parade or something. Bullies need a sharp kick to the testicles. That's how you convince them that bullying is wrong.

In Teddy Roosevelt's era, President Barack Obama explained to the nation this week, "some people thought massive inequality and exploitation was just the price of progress. ... But Roosevelt also knew that the free market has never been a free license to take whatever you want from whoever you can."

There are some wonderful oxymorons in history -- like the Holy Roman Empire, which was neither holy nor Roman nor much of an empire. Our own times can offer more than a few such grandiose monickers, like the People's Republic of China, which is neither the people's nor a republic nor representative of all of China. Not so long as Taiwan stays free of Beijing's grasp, anyway.

During the Christmas season, we actually tend to be more thankful for things that we more easily overlook at other times of the year. Things as foundational as family, friends, and a warm place to lay our heads at night become focal points.

All the superfluous language about “women’s reproductive health” aside, Planned Parenthood is in the business of death. They’ve built an empire by performing abortions to the tune of 300,000 a year (currently), by filling their coffers with taxpayer monies, and by securing an ever-ready defense from leftist politicians

Do you see a problem with a law that authorizes indefinite military detention of anyone the president identifies as an enemy of the state? For President Obama, the problem is clear: The law does not give him enough discretion.

Despite the fact that in America, 60 to 70 percent of people identify themselves as “Christian” to one degree or another, Christian-bashing seems to be just about as popular a pastime as watching football these days. And when a national football player commits the unpardonable sins of being both pro-life and vociferously, pro-Jesus, you end up with Monday morning pundits who cast ridiculous judgments from on top of their lofty thrones, much like the old Muppet Show characters Statler and Waldorf.

After pushing the envelope for the past few years, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas finally might have pushed too far. The stalwart backing the PA has received from the U.S. government — which results in upward of $500 million in total annual funding — appears to be waning.

They may be well-known, but they are not widely-loved by Wall Street, at least not yet anyway. Each trades for less than half of its 52-week high, and each looks poised for a solid rebound in 2012. It's just a coincidence that they cater to two of the five senses -- sound and sight.

The inevitable has happened. After weeks of steadily plummeting polls numbers and increasing political pressure, Herman Cain's campaign has finally collapsed under the weight of multiple allegations of sexual infidelity.

It’s risky to be an angel investor. Fortunately for investors, academics are studying and publishing data. The Kaufman Foundation is a well respected source for entrepreneurship, and they published a study that identified some best practices for angel investors.

It is far from clear what will happen in Egypt now. The military remains unified and powerful, and it is unclear how much actual power it is prepared to cede or whether it will be forced to cede it. What is clear is that the faction championed by Western governments and the media will now have to accept the Islamist agenda, back the military or fade into irrelevance.

When government agencies say that a statute indicates they are allowed to do X, or that their actions are supported by that statute, it’s a clear sign that the statute does not explicitly authorize them to do what they’re trying to do. If it did, they would say so.

For three years, policymakers have tried to manipulate short-run economic growth, and they have failed. They have put too much trust in macroeconomists, who are frankly lousy at modeling the complex workings of the short-run economy.

I went looking for bills introduced in the House that would eliminate programs. The conservative Republican Study Committee’s Sunset Caucus has a list of bills sponsored by their members that would cut spending.

On the evening of June 22, 2008, Tony Bologna and his two sons, 20-year-old Michael and 16-year-old Matthew were gunned down while sitting in their car on the streets of San Francisco. Their alleged murderer was Edwin Ramos, a Salvadoran illegal alien with known gang affiliations and a criminal history as a juvenile.

Obviously there are unscrupulous businessmen, and some on Wall Street behaved unethically, if not dishonestly taking advantage of lax oversight and bailouts to make fortunes while the rest of the economy suffered. But, if you look at the one percent that OWS is denouncing, most of them got rich by giving us things that makes us better off, or at least things that we want.

With vote tallies in for Egypt's first round of parliamentary elections in it is abundantly clear that Egypt is on the fast track to becoming a totalitarian Islamic state. The first round of voting took place in Egypt's most liberal, cosmopolitan cities. And still the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists received more than 60 percent of the vote. Run-off elections for 52 seats will by all estimates increase their representation.

Do Muslims living in our land want to see an Islamic America, with prominent mosques dotting the landscape of every major city, with Islamic laws instituted throughout the nation, with the name of Muhammad revered throughout society, with the Koran memorized by children, with American men stopping five times daily to pray to Allah, with American women dressing modestly, with Islamic dietary practices strictly followed and the whole nation fasting during the daylight hours of Ramadan?

Cathy Gibbons is a one-woman focus group for Republican attitudes toward Newt Gingrich. Back in the '90s, Gibbons grew tired of Gingrich when he was speaker of the House. But this year, after watching Gingrich at Republican presidential debates, she sees him as a different man -- and the best candidate in the field.

This past year, I started writing a health and fitness column through Creators.com, titled "C-Force." It is no surprise that in researching for that column, I've discovered repeat offenses of food and beverage tampering by the federal government. But arsenic in apple juice?

As I heard Barack Obama and his propaganda minister, Jay Carney, endorsing tax cuts as a vehicle for economic growth, I was reminded, again, of George Orwell's "1984" and the striking similarities between his Oceania and the American left's vision for America.

In another futile attempt to explain the late-1960s to an America that would prefer to remember the late 1990s, the people who thought up the idea of recreating the riots during the 1968 Democrat convention in Chicago, as a way of introducing Obama to America, have combined with the Occupy movement into a new movement.

Writing for the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution, William Galston surveys the demographic and political landscape. He expresses alarm about President Obama's re-election chances. "If the election pitting Obama against the strongest potential Republican nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, were held tomorrow, the president would probably lose."

They say they want to draw attention to income inequality. They have. We all now know that they claim to represent the 99% against the income gains of the 1%. They say they want a more open, more democratic government.

We live in a bipolar culture. We allow ourselves to be drenched in sexual images in movies, on television and on the Internet and then defend First Amendment protection to even the most graphic of them.

With Herman Cain's announcement that he was suspending his presidential campaign because of the charges of sexual harassment and of a 13-year affair, issues are raised that the country would do well to think through. The two most obvious are whether we should care about a politician's sexual life and how much the press should report about these matters

Imagination, deception and audacity, in combination, are the deadly acme of warfare. Japan’s Pearl Harbor ambush of America’s Pacific Fleet, which occurred 70 years ago this week, displayed these traits. So did al-Qaida’s 9-11 savaging of American cities.

In the most recent GOP Presidential debate on foreign policy, immigration policy created the biggest hubbub. The Republican candidates, now in their 11th debate, failed to properly clarify and scrutinize America’s immigration dilemma.

If you read this column completely and carefully today, you will learn about the true state of the scientific debate over global warming. You will not get the truth about that from the Washington Post, the New York Times, or the rest of the self-regarded "establishment" media.

With all these debates and polls and risings and fallings, we're supposed to think (I think) that there could hardly be a worse presidential selection process than this. Possibly, we should look on the bright side. The process digs up and conveys important information.

MF Global steals clients’ money to support their lost sovereign debt trade, and Jon Corzine is not sure whether he will appear at a Congressional hearing. Joe Biden shows up in Greece and announces that his travelling companion is from the U.S. Treasury carrying bags of money stolen from U.S. taxpayers.

When someone is determined to commit fraud for whatever reason, no law, rule, regulation or penalty will stop them. In Corzine’s case he had enough hubris and money that he figured he could commit the fraud, get out of the situation and no one would be wiser.

Quite simply, this debate between Republicans and Democrats over who should bear the costs of government is completely misplaced. We should be asking ourselves why the government has such a deep involvement in our lives in the first place.

The obvious take-away from this is that Europe is trying to get a handle on its problems by taking a stab at fiscal conservatism: The German/French proposal appears to emphasize reducing deficits and, perhaps, efforts at balanced budgets in member countries.

Sometimes in unguarded moments the Obamas have said revealing things that later needed to be explained away—the president’s “bitter clingers” remark and Mrs. Obama’s being proud of her country “for the first time in my adult life” spring to mind.

Mon, Dec 05, 2011

The Egyptian elections have resulted in a rout for the throngs whose springtime hopes for freedom are now facing the prospect of a nuclear winter at the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood and its fellow Salafists.

Last week, the U.S. House passed the Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act, legislation which reins in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). With a 235-188 bipartisan vote, the message was sent to President Obama that his unelected bureaucrats are not doing the bidding of Big Labor bosses without Congress stepping in and acting.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind about Newt Gingrich, as he leads in polls for the Republican presidential nomination nationally and in Iowa and South Carolina, and may be threatening Mitt Romney's lead in New Hampshire.

The taxpayers are being beaten to death by liberalism. Meanwhile academic liberals are complaining that they are taking a beating with recent budget cuts, which they claim are unjust. For the first time in a long time, I agree with the liberals. The budget cuts are unjust. In my view, they aren’t deep enough. If you disagree, consider this: One public university in North Carolina has just found money to start (in the midst of a budget crisis) a new scholarship to reward feminists for engaging in feminist political activism on the job.

Last year a one year cut in the payroll taxes that working Americans pay to finance Social Security was enacted in the name of so-called economic “stimulus.” But, like the rest of the economic stimuli that have come from Washington over the last three years, the only thing that has been stimulated is the growing hole of national debt into which we sink deeper and deeper.

Look for Maxine to continue to lobby for the top Democrat spot on the finance committee; look for Maloney to wait in the background for the ethics charges to undo Maxine; and look for the GOP to keep the ethics investigation alive enough to embarrass the Democrats, but not quite alive enough to do Maxine in, just yet.

Well, well, well. Now the wheel has come full circle. With Democrats holding the White House and holding only a very slim majority in the Senate, they have become concerned about the Hatch Act's overly broad interpretation of "political" activity.

’d just hung the deer by its neck on the swingset for skinning and butchering when..... "Oh Hum-BERTO! Puh-LEAZE!” I looked over and it was our new neighbor Freddie, wailing from his patio door, his face a mask of horror and disgust. "Humberto! How COULD YOU? Why that’s AWFUL!”

It is easy to see why one-in-five small businesses list regulations as their biggest obstacle; just look at Tampa-based J.C. Newman Cigar Company. At 116 years old, it is America's oldest family-owned premium cigar maker. In 1895, J.C. Newman borrowed $50 and started a cigar company. At the time, he was an unemployed cigar maker eager to achieve the American Dream.

It’s pure magic. As people continue to be discounted, the base will diminish and the unemployment rate will decline. Hooray! By Election Day, nobody will be working, but the unemployment rate will be an acceptable 6%.

The death toll inflicted by the United States against Pakistani servicemen is unprecedented, and while U.S. commanders and NATO leaders have expressed regret over the incident, the reaction from Pakistan has been severe.

Sun, Dec 04, 2011

This Sunday Russia will hold its parliamentary, or Duma, elections. Over the past decade elections have not really been of much concern, as the political landscape of Russia has been dominated by a singular party – Premier Vladimir Putin’s United Russia. However, this year there are a few interesting shifts taking place

Letting prices fall and the market clear is the most workable path to fixing the housing market. The real solution to getting our economy moving is helping to transition resources out of housing and into other sectors of the economy.

Meanwhile, some people are acting on their frustrations and blaming the wrong people for their trouble. Instead of doing something about their problem, they wait for the government to act, or try to get someone to do something for them.

The Safeway pharmacist had explained to my wife that they were no longer carrying over-the-counter epinephrine inhalers in response to a new federal mandate and that she should get me to an emergency room.

You know what makes me angry? Guys who use more than three words when ordering Starbucks coffee, lizards that steal quail eggs and speed walkers. That’s what makes me mad. You know what gets Eric Holder heated? Probing questions from young reporters.

I will confess that I love when liberals like you get so hot under the collar that you name call. Then I know I have hit a nerve. HA! Writing sometimes can be really rewarding in that way. My favorite part was: "I'm sure you're told this on a daily basis, Ransom, but you're no more than a bizarre, paranoid idiot."

On his official website, San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi starts his list of accomplishments with this item: "Plastic Bag Ban: First-in-the-Nation ban on plastic bags in chain grocery stores and drug stores, which sparked similar legislation around the world from Oakland to Canada to Paris to Beijing."

It's not hard to understand why so many conservatives spurn Mitt Romney. He's had to slink away from past liberal positions on one major issue after another: health care reform, abortion, gun control and climate change.

In a year marked by credit downgrades, the European debt crisis and stagnating growth, the most hated company on the planet is still making investors rich. And that comes when the broader market has been a roller coaster ride.

True Democracy can no more take hold in Islamic soil than a rose can grow in a glass vase…no matter how much water it contains. This is a true statement and many Islamists know that this is a true statement.

The “myth” of “renewable” energy recycled by politicians and crony capitalists, driven by climate change alarmists and environmental fearmongers, withers in the face of the reality of markets and consumer preferences.